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Name for this restaurant...

Hi all,

1. What's the name for a restaurant where you can go to the serving area and choose your favourite food and drink from different dishes at a fixed price? (I suppose "canteen" is a place with the same quality, except that it's limited to factories, colleges, etc., if I'm not wrong)

Re: Name for this restaurant...

Originally Posted by Mehrgan

Hi all,

1. What's the name for a restaurant where you can go to the serving area and choose your favourite food and drink from different dishes at a fixed price? (I suppose "canteen" is a place with the same quality, except that it's limited to factories, colleges, etc., if I'm not wrong)

2. What's the name for this kind of serving guests at a party?

3. Has the word "a la carte" the same usage? Many thanks in advance.

(especially in BrE, plz)

The type of meal where you choose your own food and eat all you can at a fixed price is called a buffet meal. It is also called smorgasbord in some places.

Re: Name for this restaurant...

One last thing that tedmc hasn't covered:

Originally Posted by Mehrgan

Hi all,

1. What's the name for a restaurant where you can go to the serving area and choose your favourite food and drink from different dishes at a fixed price? (I suppose "canteen" is a place with the same quality, except that it's limited to factories, colleges, etc., if I'm not wrong)

...

You're right about 'canteen'. That sort of restaurant is either a cafeteria (maybe rather dated) or just a 'self-service restaurant'. The stress is on the second 'e': /kæfǝ'ti:rɪǝ/.

The sort of restaurant where you pay a fixed rate and serve yourself is sometimes - rather lazily - called an 'all-you-can-eat [restaurant]'.